SCHNEIDER: MAC coaches have every reason to pump up their programs

The annual Mid-American Conference Football Media Day at Ford Field transpired Tuesday and it provided the forum for coaches around the league to provide reasoning as to why their team will improve upon its 2012 campaign.

For some coaches such as UMass’ Charley Molnar, it was an easy sell. The Minutemen are coming off a 1-11 season and on paper they look strong enough to perhaps increase that victory total by at least a couple games.

On the other end of the spectrum, there is Northern Illinois first-year head coach Rod Carey. The affable Carey inherits a program that made the Mid-American Conference’s first-ever BCS game in January, finishing the season with a 12-2 record. That’ll be a tough one, but doable considering the Huskies are tabbed to finish first in the MAC Preseason Poll.

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Somewhere in the middle of all that is Central Michigan fourth-year coach Dan Enos, who is coming off a year where he led the Chippewas to a 7-6 mark and a 24-21 victory over Western Kentucky in the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl.

No matter the coach or the situation, there were strong arguments being made for that program being in better shape than it was in 2012.

So what shakes?

Could all 13 teams in the MAC somehow improve on last season’s win total.

I’m not a mathematician by trade, but that seems highly unlikely.

But the fun in all of the Mid-American Conference Media Day proceedings is that it is difficult not to eat it all up.

When taking a look around the conference and roster breakdowns, there is reason for optimism coming from all 13 teams.

It all sounds true and in no way contrived. Why shouldn’t a coach believe in his squad or that it has the ability to be better in certain phases, therefore making the team as a whole stronger?

As for Central Michigan, it plays a tough schedule that starts with its Aug. 31 date at the University of Michigan. Following a couple more non-conference games, the MAC opener looms with a test at home against the always-tough Toledo Rockets on Sept. 21.

The Chippewas follow the Toledo game up with a three-game road trip starting at North Carolina State and concluding with Ohio, which was picked to win the MAC East.

Enos, to his credit, seems unfazed by the daunting docket.

“Every year I’ve been here, they’ve talked about how difficult of a schedule we have in front of us,” said Enos. “We know we have a schedule full of tough games just like every year. It’s the nature of being a part of a very strong MAC West Division and we can do nothing else but embrace those challenges in front of us.”

There is certainly not complete parity in the MAC. There is no question that right now Ohio is a far better football team than say Akron or that Northern Illinois is several notches above Eastern Michigan.

But there is hope for all and that is what the preseason is all about. Not a hope and a prayer, but establishing a growing belief that this could be the year all the pieces fall into place.

It certainly worked last year for Northern Illinois.

Someone even gave Central Michigan a first-place vote in the MAC Preseason Poll, showing that the respect is growing for a Chippewas program that has a chance to move up in the standings.

“I don’t really worry about the pressure,” said Enos. “I just try to prepare our guys the best I can every day. I think academically and athletically, our program is in very good shape right now. We’ve done the very best we can to build it. We’re very pleased with the first two recruiting classes we had and I’ve only heard good things about the third one. I think it has the potential to be our best one yet. I think the future is very bright for us.”

Row the boat

A new face in the Mid-American Conference coaching landscape is Western Michigan’s P.J. Fleck, who brings a tremendous amount of energy and passion with him.

He talked Tuesday about embracing change and says evolving is key in success.

“There will be a ton of changes around our building,” said Fleck. “Six months from now, nothing will look the same. From the field turf to the lockers to the logos and other things. Nothing will be the same. I’m a firm believer in taking something and breaking it. These guys are taught to break themselves on a daily basis and find out about yourself.”

Fleck, who was a wide receivers coach with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last year, brought the slogan ‘Row the Boat’ to Western Michigan and he explained in full detail what that means.

“’Row the Boat’ is very simple,” Fleck added. “It’s a family mantra my wife and I had. We lost our second son and had to start living it instead of talking about it. I kept it in my back pocket until I was a head football coach because I thought it was something I could give back at that point. The oars are the energy of the program. The boat is the sacrifice to get into the boat. The community is the players and the focus is where we set sail. When you are rowing a boat, you are facing the opposite direction you are actually going. You are going toward the future, but you can’t quite see what is there. You have to trust in your process and trust where you are going. When one person stops rowing, another player has to pick it up and row for two instead of one. We can look back into the past and see where we’ve made mistakes and then try to correct them. We don’t care what’s ahead of us. Calm seas, waterfalls, rocky seas, injuries. It doesn’t matter. We are going to continue to row the boat.”

While Enos and Fleck both touched on the rivalry between Central Michigan and Western Michigan over the course of the morning, Enos did not have a lot to say about Fleck’s hiring.

“I don’t have any comment on that,” Enos said.

In a way, that says a lot about the healthy state of the rivalry right there.

More quotes from Enos, Fleck, Carey, Molnar, Eastern Michigan coach Ron English, and Miami coach Don Treadwell can be found later this week at sunsportsblog.blogspot.com.